07.08.2014 Views

The Abomination of Desolation - St. Marys Coptic Orthodox Church

The Abomination of Desolation - St. Marys Coptic Orthodox Church

The Abomination of Desolation - St. Marys Coptic Orthodox Church

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

68<br />

THE UNHOLY TRINITY<br />

<strong>The</strong> danger <strong>of</strong> this heresy lies in the confusion it will produce in the mind<br />

at the coming <strong>of</strong> Antichrist, who will actually claim that he is Christ<br />

coming for his thousand year reign on earth.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Bible and the Fathers tell us that Christ has two advents, one for<br />

salvation when he died on the Cross, rose from the dead, ascended to<br />

heaven after promising us to come again for judgment. <strong>The</strong>re is no<br />

intermediate coming <strong>of</strong> Christ.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Second Coming <strong>of</strong> Christ will be on the clouds (Matt 24:30,<br />

26:64, Mark 13:26, 14:62, I <strong>The</strong>s 4:17, Rev 1:7) He will not come down<br />

to earth but will “send his angels with a great sound <strong>of</strong> a trumpet, and<br />

they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end <strong>of</strong><br />

heaven to the other.” (Matt 24:31) And, if we are alive at the second<br />

coming <strong>of</strong> Christ we will be “caught up together with them in the clouds,<br />

to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” (I<br />

<strong>The</strong>s 4:17) In short, He shall not come down to earth, we shall go up to<br />

meet Him in the clouds.<br />

<strong>The</strong> early Fathers <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Church</strong> spared no effort to remind us that<br />

the Second Coming <strong>of</strong> Christ will not be from the earth but rather from<br />

heaven.<br />

This Jesus Christ who is gone up shall come again, not from earth but<br />

from heaven: and I say, "not from earth," because there are many<br />

Antichrists to come at this time from earth. For already, as thou hast<br />

seen, many have begun to say, I am the Christ: and the <strong>Abomination</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />

desolation is yet to come, assuming to himself the false title <strong>of</strong> Christ.<br />

But look thou for the true Christ, the Only-begotten Son <strong>of</strong> God, coming<br />

henceforth no more from earth, but from heaven, appearing to all more<br />

bright than any lightning and brilliancy <strong>of</strong> light, with angel guards<br />

attended, that He may judge both quick and dead, and reign in a<br />

heavenly, eternal kingdom, which shall have no end. 1<br />

<strong>The</strong> true Christ, the Only-begotten Son <strong>of</strong> God, comes no more from the<br />

earth. If any come making false shows in the wilderness, go not forth; if<br />

they say, Lo, here is the Christ, Lo, there, believe it not. Look no longer<br />

downwards and to the earth; for the Lord descends from heaven; not<br />

1 Saint Cyril <strong>of</strong> Jerusalem: Catechetical Lectures

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!